Click here to add text.From the newsroom of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Silver Spring, Maryland, Thursday, February 7, 2008 .....

NAD Responds to AGBell

February 7, 2008

Karen Youdelman, President

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

3417 Volta Place, NW

Washington, DC 20007

Dear President Youdelman,

On behalf of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Board of Directors, staff, members, and supporters, I am responding to the recent letter that you wrote to PepsiCo representing the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Har d of Hearing (AGBell). Specifically, I want to express our disappointment.

In 1880, the NAD was established by deaf leaders who believed in the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level. These beliefs remain true to this day, with American Sign Language (ASL) as a core value. As a consumer-based nonprofit federation, the mission of the NAD is to promote, protect, and preserve the civil, human, and linguistic rights of deaf Americans.

The NAD represents children and adults who are deaf, hard of hearing, late deafened, or deaf-blind. We welcome all people who value ASL, and we promote opportunities for the acquisition and use of ASL in addition to English in its various forms, with or without the use of hearing technologies, to enable successful participation in all aspects of American society, including the deaf community.

We are disap pointed with the negative tone of your letter and obvious lack of respect for deaf people who use ASL. We are also sensitive to the fact that many members of the AGBell deaf and hard of hearing section know and use ASL. We find it deplorable that AGBell continues to perpetuate the myth that the use of ASL isolates deaf people from mainstream society, a stereotype that is far from the truth. We know that this is not the first time that AGBell has reacted in this manner to high-profile use of ASL, which AGBell may perceive as detracting from its exclusive focus on speaking and listening. As such, we are not surprised that AGBell continues to close its eyes to successful deaf ASL users as positive role models.

In the view of the NAD, every deaf person has a unique place in American society, with basic human rights with respect to identity, cultural affiliation, and self-expression. This viewpoint, with emphasis on diversity and inclusiveness, forms the foundation for our existence as an organization and as a community.

We expect the same respect from AGBell on behalf of the community we represent.

Sincerely,

Bobbie Beth Scoggins

President

To see NAD response in ASL: http://blogs.nad.org/president/?p=14

Linda Nelson